9.5/10. I know, it's strange to see a review start with the score, but there it is, plain as day. I will save you all the effort of reading further if you just want to see my score. Now, for the review portion.
As I have touched on, the games graphics are fantastic. The characters look brilliant, though they are still a little stiff in the animations. I'm not a big fan of Shepard and Liara doing the robot when they are hugging, but take the honey with the vinegar I suppose. There were some slow downs in a few cut scenes where there was a lot of action, some of this got fairly bad towards the end game, but it's livable. Environments are still beautiful and it was truly something to see the sheer size of a Reaper in the background while I'm fighting something else.
The story is great and I'm not going to spoil it for anyone. Just know that it's a fairly powerful ending. The gameplay as I have said is stellar, the tweaks and adjustments made to the combat systems make the game great. I spent a lot of time on the single player in part one, so I'm going to spend this time talking about multiplayer.
Multiplayer is squad based with different classes and races available for play. Teamwork is paramount if you want to succeed in these missions. The different classes have several different races for you to use which adds some fun because you no longer have to be only human. Each race has different abilities within the class so you can find what you want and go with it. Weapons are fully customizable in multiplayer as are your powers, though you are limited to three pre-chosen powers and only two weapons at a time. As you play through missions you earn credits to buy packs containing boosters, weapons, characters, weapon mods, or equipment. These rewards range from nearly pointless (ammo refill when there are ammo drops around) to awesome (grenade launching assault rifle) and they are chosen at random. Multiplayer is fun and I'm glad that they added it, though it wasn't needed. In all honesty, I was considering not playing multiplayer, but I'm glad that I did.
On that note, I am going to stop rambling and let you guys get back to your gaming. Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City comes out soon and I might be getting that, Diablo 3 is coming out on May 15th so look forward to that. Otherwise, again, Mass Effect 3 has earned a 9.5/10 and See You Online.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Mass Effect 3 Part 1
The Reapers have arrived. Earth is under siege and millions are dying by the hour. A massive galaxy-wide war has broken out and the only hope is to unite the races or die. That is what greets you at the opening of Mass Effect 3. As you may or may not know, I have been invested in this game for quite a while (see my story on completing Mass Effect 2) so I was eager to see the decisions I've made in the past come to a head. I have played single player for about ten hours and played a few rounds of multiplayer and here's my thoughts to this point.
The gameplay has had some changes made to it, some subtle, others, not so much. The skill system has been fleshed out a bit offering six levels of upgrades instead of four. However, at level four you are given two options for how to progress your powers. This goes for Shepard and all squad mates. Controls are tight and responsive, and Bioware has helped to make a few changes to the cover system that put it more in line with a Gears of War type game which is great. You can now do combat rolls in any direction, sprinting is faster, and you can roll around cover and to either side of doors or setups similar to doorways. There are also some areas to do running jumps and ladders to help vary the combat situations a little bit. Some more changes are to the enemy AI. Enemies are smarter and I have found myself having to have a strategy in battle instead of going in and just letting my team take care of what I'm not paying attention to. Enemies will use verticality, flanking, and lob grenades to get you out of cover now. They provide covering fire for each other and continuously keep pressure on you. I have found the gameplay changes to help the series out quite a bit.
Going on with some more gameplay changes, Planetary Scanning from Mass Effect 2 is still around, but it's drastically different. Now you roam your sector and press a button to scan nearby and the game will tell you if there are "war assets" nearby. You go to the planet and start your scanner and follow the line to where the thing is, launch a probe, and you're done. If you scan too many times in a Reaper controlled area, the Reapers will come after you and if you don't escape in time, you die. The weapon system is mostly carried over from Mass Effect 2, except there are more options and you now have access to weapon mods to customize your weapons. There are also weapon upgrades you can purchase and you are allowed to customize your armor if you choose to.
Bioware was also nice enough to include a multiplayer mode this time. The wonderful thing about the multiplayer is that it is 100% optional. There is no NEED to play it at all if you don't want to. The mode is similar to Gears of War's Horde mode. You face waves of enemies until you either die or complete the mission. There are six levels to play on and this mode does offer you the ability to play as different races which is kind of neat, but other than that, there is nothing really groundbreaking. It's a fun diversion, but that's it. I haven't played too much to know a lot about it.
The graphics have been improved to a fantastic quality. Characters are still kind of stiff during cut scenes and they don't quite touch each other when they have moments of touching each other. Environments are fantastic and seem nearly realistic at times, though the water in the opening sequence is pretty terrible. Another small note is that occasionally in the opening sequence I would encounter background characters randomly popping into the background of the scene as if they were teleported there. There are also several points where you get a before the war and a during the war picture and the contrast is hauntingly beautiful. The mood is set and this game is quite a bit darker than I was expecting it to be, even though I knew it was about a war for survival. I feel like I have actually been hit at a small emotional level and that is impressive.
The games sound design up to this point is as we can expect. The returning characters sound like they always have and the new ones have some great actors behind them. The music is fitting and helps to bolster the tone that this could be the end of everything. There are some lip syncing issues but they don't detract too much from the rest of what is going on.
That's all for now. This is a huge game, and I will write more about the choices I've made in the past affecting my game now at a later time. Until then, please get this game and enjoy it. Till next time, See You Online.
The gameplay has had some changes made to it, some subtle, others, not so much. The skill system has been fleshed out a bit offering six levels of upgrades instead of four. However, at level four you are given two options for how to progress your powers. This goes for Shepard and all squad mates. Controls are tight and responsive, and Bioware has helped to make a few changes to the cover system that put it more in line with a Gears of War type game which is great. You can now do combat rolls in any direction, sprinting is faster, and you can roll around cover and to either side of doors or setups similar to doorways. There are also some areas to do running jumps and ladders to help vary the combat situations a little bit. Some more changes are to the enemy AI. Enemies are smarter and I have found myself having to have a strategy in battle instead of going in and just letting my team take care of what I'm not paying attention to. Enemies will use verticality, flanking, and lob grenades to get you out of cover now. They provide covering fire for each other and continuously keep pressure on you. I have found the gameplay changes to help the series out quite a bit.
Going on with some more gameplay changes, Planetary Scanning from Mass Effect 2 is still around, but it's drastically different. Now you roam your sector and press a button to scan nearby and the game will tell you if there are "war assets" nearby. You go to the planet and start your scanner and follow the line to where the thing is, launch a probe, and you're done. If you scan too many times in a Reaper controlled area, the Reapers will come after you and if you don't escape in time, you die. The weapon system is mostly carried over from Mass Effect 2, except there are more options and you now have access to weapon mods to customize your weapons. There are also weapon upgrades you can purchase and you are allowed to customize your armor if you choose to.
Bioware was also nice enough to include a multiplayer mode this time. The wonderful thing about the multiplayer is that it is 100% optional. There is no NEED to play it at all if you don't want to. The mode is similar to Gears of War's Horde mode. You face waves of enemies until you either die or complete the mission. There are six levels to play on and this mode does offer you the ability to play as different races which is kind of neat, but other than that, there is nothing really groundbreaking. It's a fun diversion, but that's it. I haven't played too much to know a lot about it.
The graphics have been improved to a fantastic quality. Characters are still kind of stiff during cut scenes and they don't quite touch each other when they have moments of touching each other. Environments are fantastic and seem nearly realistic at times, though the water in the opening sequence is pretty terrible. Another small note is that occasionally in the opening sequence I would encounter background characters randomly popping into the background of the scene as if they were teleported there. There are also several points where you get a before the war and a during the war picture and the contrast is hauntingly beautiful. The mood is set and this game is quite a bit darker than I was expecting it to be, even though I knew it was about a war for survival. I feel like I have actually been hit at a small emotional level and that is impressive.
The games sound design up to this point is as we can expect. The returning characters sound like they always have and the new ones have some great actors behind them. The music is fitting and helps to bolster the tone that this could be the end of everything. There are some lip syncing issues but they don't detract too much from the rest of what is going on.
That's all for now. This is a huge game, and I will write more about the choices I've made in the past affecting my game now at a later time. Until then, please get this game and enjoy it. Till next time, See You Online.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
A story of my journey to complete Mass Effect 2 SPOILERS AHEAD!
Ok, I am excited. Mass Effect 3 is going to end a story that I have built. Sort of anyway... I am going to tell you a story of a boy and his game. It is a short story that has a (SPOILER) happy ending. There are mild spoilers ahead from the first two games, so do not read if you haven't played them.
I had the first Mass Effect on my 360. I played the hell out of it. Defeated Saren, killed off Kaiden, by God I didn't even kill off Wrex! I had a magnificent paragonish heroine that survived Sovereign and saved the Council. I even slept with Liara. My file was glorious and I had some amazingly high hopes for what lay ahead for FBeej Shepard. Then I got Mass Effect 2 on my 360 and played through about a quarter of the way when my disc got damaged. I didn't buy a new one and it just sat there unfinished. Later on, I got a copy of Mass Effect 2 as a gift for my PC. Boy was I ever excited for that! I would finally finish what I started, kinda. I didn't have MY Shepard. Sure, her name was FBeej because I'm creative and all, and I only played though one game with her, but she was mine.
Sadness again struck on the PC version of Mass Effect 2 for me. I was playing through some of the Overlord DLC pack and for some strange reason when I began to travel the world in the hovercraft my computer crashed to a blue screen of death! I was interested, and from that point forward, whenever I tried to keep going I would blue screen. I know I could have just quit the mission and it would have been done, but that wasn't the point. I wanted to play the entire game, not miss out on any of it.
So my saga continued on to my PS3, at this point in the story I no longer had a 360. I purchased the game for the second time (third if you count the PC present) and began my playthrough. I played the motion comic making the big decisions from the first game which was nice to be able to do. Killed Kaiden, Saved the council and Wrex, slept with Liara. I had a shell of what was my former FBeej Shepard. I was alright with her. As I played through Mass Effect 2 I realized just how far I didn't make it when I was playing on my PC or my 360. I only had Miranda, Jacob, Mordin, and Garrus. I didn't have half the available squad members even! I kept on playing, getting all of my crew members, including the DLC ones like Kasumi and Zaeed. Things were going so swimmingly I figured I would have to eventually screw something up, and I did, I lost Miranda's loyalty by siding with Jack. The story moved along and I assumed I was going to lose a lot when I progressed into the end game. But by some act of divine intervention, I slept with Garrus and made it through the Omega 4 Relay into the Collector base without a single casualty. I have no idea how it happened. I moved on through picking my team and splitting up duties. By the final boss fight I had what I felt was the worst squad I could have, Soldier FBeej, Tali, and Kasumi. Holy crap what a terrible decision that was. (My usual squad was Garrus and Zaeed or Mordin, I like to deal a lot of pain very quickly) I had to change up my tactics but we made it through fighting the final boss and a thousand different Collector Drones. I was awarded with my ending cut scene. I had finished Mass Effect 2 and was happy to say that I did not have any casualties within my crew and happy with my Shepard.
FBeej Shepard lived with her crew and I was sad. I had finished a game that I loved so dearly. The only thing left for me to do was wait impatiently for Mass Effect 3 to come out. Thankfully, we won't have to wait too much longer, it comes out in three days! I don't know about you guys but I cannot wait to see the end to FBeej Shepard's story. I will have a review up as quickly as I can, but please be patient with this one as it is going to take a while. I have Tuesday and Wednesday off of work so I will be playing extensively. Also, I am getting the Collectors Edition so I'll be sure to tell you guys how much awesomeness Bioware packed into an $80.00 package.
Several side notes - 1. You guys should read the Mass Effect novels. They are fantastic not only at expanding the universe of Mass Effect, but they're decent Sci-Fi novels too. 2. GamesWithBeej is thankful for your support and as always I'm going to take this chance to remind you to share us with your friends. We want to become something awesome, and we can't do it alone. 3. Potential other reviews down the road: Minecraft(maybe), Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City(maybe), Diablo 3(for sure), Prototype 2(maybe), Max Payne 3(maybe). Well, that's all for this update guys. See You Online.
I had the first Mass Effect on my 360. I played the hell out of it. Defeated Saren, killed off Kaiden, by God I didn't even kill off Wrex! I had a magnificent paragonish heroine that survived Sovereign and saved the Council. I even slept with Liara. My file was glorious and I had some amazingly high hopes for what lay ahead for FBeej Shepard. Then I got Mass Effect 2 on my 360 and played through about a quarter of the way when my disc got damaged. I didn't buy a new one and it just sat there unfinished. Later on, I got a copy of Mass Effect 2 as a gift for my PC. Boy was I ever excited for that! I would finally finish what I started, kinda. I didn't have MY Shepard. Sure, her name was FBeej because I'm creative and all, and I only played though one game with her, but she was mine.
Sadness again struck on the PC version of Mass Effect 2 for me. I was playing through some of the Overlord DLC pack and for some strange reason when I began to travel the world in the hovercraft my computer crashed to a blue screen of death! I was interested, and from that point forward, whenever I tried to keep going I would blue screen. I know I could have just quit the mission and it would have been done, but that wasn't the point. I wanted to play the entire game, not miss out on any of it.
So my saga continued on to my PS3, at this point in the story I no longer had a 360. I purchased the game for the second time (third if you count the PC present) and began my playthrough. I played the motion comic making the big decisions from the first game which was nice to be able to do. Killed Kaiden, Saved the council and Wrex, slept with Liara. I had a shell of what was my former FBeej Shepard. I was alright with her. As I played through Mass Effect 2 I realized just how far I didn't make it when I was playing on my PC or my 360. I only had Miranda, Jacob, Mordin, and Garrus. I didn't have half the available squad members even! I kept on playing, getting all of my crew members, including the DLC ones like Kasumi and Zaeed. Things were going so swimmingly I figured I would have to eventually screw something up, and I did, I lost Miranda's loyalty by siding with Jack. The story moved along and I assumed I was going to lose a lot when I progressed into the end game. But by some act of divine intervention, I slept with Garrus and made it through the Omega 4 Relay into the Collector base without a single casualty. I have no idea how it happened. I moved on through picking my team and splitting up duties. By the final boss fight I had what I felt was the worst squad I could have, Soldier FBeej, Tali, and Kasumi. Holy crap what a terrible decision that was. (My usual squad was Garrus and Zaeed or Mordin, I like to deal a lot of pain very quickly) I had to change up my tactics but we made it through fighting the final boss and a thousand different Collector Drones. I was awarded with my ending cut scene. I had finished Mass Effect 2 and was happy to say that I did not have any casualties within my crew and happy with my Shepard.
FBeej Shepard lived with her crew and I was sad. I had finished a game that I loved so dearly. The only thing left for me to do was wait impatiently for Mass Effect 3 to come out. Thankfully, we won't have to wait too much longer, it comes out in three days! I don't know about you guys but I cannot wait to see the end to FBeej Shepard's story. I will have a review up as quickly as I can, but please be patient with this one as it is going to take a while. I have Tuesday and Wednesday off of work so I will be playing extensively. Also, I am getting the Collectors Edition so I'll be sure to tell you guys how much awesomeness Bioware packed into an $80.00 package.
Several side notes - 1. You guys should read the Mass Effect novels. They are fantastic not only at expanding the universe of Mass Effect, but they're decent Sci-Fi novels too. 2. GamesWithBeej is thankful for your support and as always I'm going to take this chance to remind you to share us with your friends. We want to become something awesome, and we can't do it alone. 3. Potential other reviews down the road: Minecraft(maybe), Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City(maybe), Diablo 3(for sure), Prototype 2(maybe), Max Payne 3(maybe). Well, that's all for this update guys. See You Online.
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